Photosensitivity
by Blazichu
Summary: Photosensitivity: Being overly sensitive to light; an abnormal quality usually observed after, oh say, an eye exam? The quick fix: Sunglasses. It's too bad Raz didn't know about that earlier.


It had sounded so simple on paper.

Then again, nothing was easy with Raz around, and Sasha knew that, which led to his current predicament.

"Sasha?" The aforementioned acrobat said suddenly, blinking rapidly. "I can't see anything. _Why_ can't I see anything?"

The German man sighed. He was just Raz's _mentor_, so why was he here again? Granted, it had been interesting to watch the boy stumble out into the lobby of the optometrist's office, just a moment ago…but definitely not worth the seemingly-endless rant he (and everybody in the vicinity) had been treated to once the word "dentist" had been mentioned earlier this morning.

Sasha brushed these thoughts aside, turning back to the topic at hand. "Your eyes are dilated, and the exam included the usage of hard light."

Blinking again- this time from slight bafflement- Raz raised another question, "…What does the light have to do with anything? Yeah, it _hurts_ when it gets in your eyes…but it doesn't _blind_ you...most of the time"

"Photosensitivity." The older telepath explained shortly, "Your eyes are more sensitive to light when dilated. The bright light temporarily blinded you, because of it."

"Uh…sure…I think it's going away now, anyway." The boy flopped down onto the couch beside his mentor, exasperated, "Why am I putting up with all this poking and prodding, again?"

"Because you want to be a Psychonaut."

"Right…I knew there was a reason…"

There was a momentary pause, during which another name was called and the corresponding person was admitted through the office door.

"I'm pretty sure that I'm free to go, now." Raz said a moment later, still staring blankly at what he could see of the ceiling.

It was after the passing of another minute, right as they were about to leave, that something else occurred to him. "Uh…Sasha? Wouldn't going out into…y'know, the _sunlight_ be a bad idea, right now?"

Sasha turned back toward his charge, belatedly remembering the absence of that ridiculous helmet and the red goggles. Either way, the headwear probably wouldn't have done very much… from what he'd heard, the primary function of the goggles was to keep enemies from "plucking" the boy's eyes out… This had led to more than one absurd conversation, during which the German had questioned his own judgment of Raz's mind, and the decision to rule him as sane.

There were days when it was very difficult to tell, after all…

With nary a moment's thought, Sasha had removed his own sunglasses and handed them to the younger psychic, who stared at his hand as though it were an alien being. Disbelieving, Raz glanced up at his mentor (or rather- the blurry object that vaguely resembled the German) back to what was being offered to him. He knew what it had to be, but he was hesitant to believe it what with his sight being so unreliable.

Sasha clapped his free hand to his forehead, "Raz, stop being difficult. Take the glasses so we can leave."

"Are you feeling alright?" The acrobat finally asked. "'Cause I've never seen you go _anywhere_ without your sunglasses…"

Smiling faintly at the other's word choice, the older psychic supplied an instant answer, "Nothing will change then, since you still can't _see_ anything, will it?"

Raz blinked, then laughed, finally accepting the sunglasses. "Whoa…that's dark."

"Yes…that's rather the point." Sasha sighed, rolling his eyes. "We need to get going now; there's still a proficiency exam in pyrokinesis to get to, today."

"While I'm half blind?!" The younger telepath exclaimed, sounding dubious.

"…Who knows, perhaps it will improve your aim…"

"Gee, thanks. You're just _so_ supportive, Sasha."

No further words were exchanged. Despite his sarcastic comment, Raz was touched by the trusting gesture, and set a goal to keep from driving Sasha insane for the rest of the day…well, that _and_ to keep from bumping into everything that wasn't anchored to the ground… He wasn't sure which one would prove to be more difficult, just yet.


End file.
